It is well known that dies of various design are used in a number of different stamping, forming, and/or trimming processes. These processes may involve, without limitation, the creation and/or alteration of sheet metal parts or cast parts.
It would be understood by one of skill in the art that there may be various occasions within such a process wherein an associated die needs to be at least partially rotated (i.e., rolled-over to an inverted or partially inverted orientation). One such example involves a trimming die used in a cast part trimming operation, where gates, runners, flash, etc., are trimmed/removed from a cast part. During such an operation, it is common for the trimmed part to be removed from the die and for the die to subsequently traverse to a position where it is at least partially rotated so that the trimmed gates, runners, flash, etc., are dumped into a pit or other collection receptacle for transfer to a furnace for remelting.
It would also be understood by one of skill in the art that such dies are typically very heavy and, therefore, the transfer and particularly rotation thereof may be difficult to accomplish smoothly. For example, when rotating a die, it is generally difficult to smoothly terminate the inverting rotational motion or the return (reverting) rotational motion of the die due to the inertia and momentum associated therewith. Rather, the use of known systems and methods for accomplishing die rotation typically results in an abrupt and jarring termination of an inverting or reverting operation, typically from the die or a component to which it is coupled impacting a hard stop. This may lead to damage to the die being rotated and/or to the device used to rotate the die.
Therefore, it would be desirable to provide a system and method for rotating a die that avoids the aforementioned jarring movement. Ideally such a system would also be robust, reliable, easy to service and troubleshoot, and inexpensive to maintain. A die rotation system of the present invention is such a system.